Ryan, I like your new avatar. If you want to create your own, then I suggest visiting this site: Animation Tools (Freeware)

One way I learned how to do animations was this: (1) save an animated picture on computer (2) use a program like IrvanView to extract all frames (3) open each frame and compare to see how the animator created the file (4) then use a program like UnFREEz to connect frames you've already created using a paint program to animate . . . or use any more advanced one displayed on the first link above